Story+1996-01-12+Youngstown,+OH

´´Hello, Youngstown....well, uh....I got in a car today and, uh....and, uh, and, uh....uh, I got in a car today and I said ´Gee´, I was talking to the fella that was driving into town, I said ´What do people do around here ?´....and he says ´Well´, he says ´Eating and drinking´....I say, uh, I say ´Gee´, I say ´Gee, gee, you know, they do that everywhere, that´s what they do around here´....so, uh, tonight the show´s brought to you by, uh, Sweet´s Three´s Company Curbside Cooking....it´s just something that I´ve only seen right here (chuckles) but, uh.... anyway, I´m gonna, this is where I usually give my little speech about being quiet, all the music tonight depends on a lot of silence and I really need your help in sort of maintaining that silence so I can give you my best which is why I´m here.....and uh.....so if you feel like clapping or singing along, I think your neighbors will, will, will take it as some sort of psychotic episode so please (?)(chuckles) and, uh....oh, and this is a community event so feel free to band together and, uh, if there´s any unruly audience members, very politely (?) please shut the fuck up, alright....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Adam Raised a Cain´**

´´(some guy: ´We love you, man !´) Too much love drives a man insane (?)(chuckles)....oh..... this is a, this is a song about a fellow who gets out of prison and is trying to find his, find his way back into the world, way back into his family and, uh, is trying to be new....and I think that....everybody knows how hard that is, you know, all your old habits, all your ways of doing things, they get pretty locked in you....and uh (some woman screams) don´t make me come out there and start slapping people around.....uh, uh, this is a song, I guess it´s about somebody, somebody struggling to be new and everybody´s laid in bed at night and had those moments when the very worst in you felt like it was, uh, your only breath of life or your only hope, this is called ´Straight Time´....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Straight Time´**

´´Thank you....well, this is the first time I ever had a troop of Boys´ Scouts at one of my shows....(?)....I, uh, I only made it to, to Webelos myself, you know....and then the, uh, guy that was my scoutmaster ran off with another guy´s wife and that was it....that happens in New Jersey....anyway, this is a song when you´re, you know, when you´re, when you´re young, you know, you, I think there´s a point when you really feel like you know yourself so well, you know, everything you do, what you wouldn´t do and then you get a little older and you do so many things that, that some way confuse you....at some point you get lucky and learn to accept yourself as a total stranger....so, uh....(?) some strangers out there, but this is a song about, uh....you know, what might happen when you meet somebody on a certain night, about, uh, not knowing what you´re capable of, about little self-knowledge coming too late....this is called ´Highway 29´....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Highway 29´**

´´(tunes his guitar) Let´s see if 30 years of experience have prepared me for this, alright (keeps tuning)....this is, uh, this is a song about, I guess, how there´s a.....there´s a good part of our population that we kind of....decided that they´re, uh.....that their lives and their dreams really don´t count for much and uh....this is what it leaves, leaves us with, I guess....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Murder Incorporated´**

´´I´ve been, uh, on the road for about a month, I guess, and....that´s just about how long it takes for strange things to start happening to me....and uh....I, I stay up late, when I´m home, I can go to bed semi-late, you know, when I get out on the road I end up falling asleep in front of the TV at night.....and I have a theory that anything you see seeps into your subconscious and stays there ´cause I start to have all these strange dreams....and I start to wake up and want things bad....and, uh, I wrote this song a couple of days ago on an airplane where I was trying to ignore the guy next to me....I had my hat over my eyes....and he saw me pull out a newspaper and start scribbling....I said ´I got some ideas coming out´....´Yeah ....you gotta get ´em down, don´t you....or you´re gonna forget ´em, right ?´....´Maybe´ (chuckles) so....that´s how....I wrote this song so while I don´t think he should get a co-writership....there´s some twisted part of his personality that ended up in this next tune..... which, let me warn you before I play it, is idiotic, alright, so (chuckles)....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Sell It and They Will Come´**

´´Yeah, I can see myself out there.....´Remember me, folks ?....you thought I was dead´ (chuckles) uh....oh, if you buy some of them handy little souvenirs out there tonight, the money goes to the Second Harvest Foodbank that serves in your hometown....this is a song, uh, it was a song that I wrote for the Tom Joad-record but it didn´t, didn´t make it on the record, I´m not sure why but, uh, it´s set in the San Gabriel mountains in California and it´s, uh, there was a group of homeless Vietnam veterans that, that set up a camp out there and, uh, this is a story about....one of them who has a, has a daughter and she grows up and she comes looking for her dad.....it´s called ´Brothers Under the Bridges´....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Brothers Under the Bridges´ (following ´Sell It And They Will Come´)**

´´Thank you, thank you, this, uh....hey, you´re doing great (chuckles)....this is a song about men and women....uh....which is a subject I really didn´t write very much about for about 30 years....and I figured it out and it was.....´cause I was in the same relationship for 30 years..... but it was just with all different women.....you know, I´d meet somebody, I would do the exact same thing every time....and at the end I would say ´What happened ?´....and then you do something really weird....then, uh.....then, after getting it wrong so many times, you decide to get married (chuckles)....uh.....that first marriage, that´s practise (chuckles) for some of us (chuckles) for some of us and, uh....you know (chuckles)(?)(chuckles) but thank you for offering....but (chuckles) uh....and if you´re lucky, you know, you get that, you get it right the second time (chuckles) I see there´s limited support for that theory (chuckles)..... anyway, this is a song about not, not getting it right, about just missing it, but just missing it is still missing it, this is called ´Dry Lightning´....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Dry Lightning´**

´´This is, uh....I think when you´re, when you´re young, you always feel like you, you can change the world in some fashion, you know, I remember when I first picked up the guitar and got in a band, I said ´Man, if I could just write the right song or if I could hit the right chord that, you know....and uh....then the world, you know, little bit by bit hits you in the face....and (?)....and then you get to a place, I think, where in some, some ways....you´ve got that uphill battle against cynicism, you know, and uh....this is a song about somebody who does change the world, uh....I guess it´s, it´s sort of like somebody that, that takes part (?) real life miracle, where on a given moment on a given day somebody, there´s a decision made not to add to the violence or brutality that.....that exists in the world and in doing so..... how someone can change themselves and, and maybe in that way, maybe that´s the only way you can change the world....well, this is about a woman that takes that step....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Spare Parts´**

´´(someone yells: ´Jungleland´)(?)(someone: ´Hey asshole, shut up´) Hey !....(?) now, buddy, (?) I know you´re just, I know you´re having fun but, uh, hey, asshole, shut up, alright (chuckles)....alright, this is, uh, you know you sort of get into the tricky turf when you write a song about somebody else´s hometown.....you don´t want to, uh, you don´t wanna get it wrong and then also usually, I guess, if you write a song like this, you get a letter from the Chamber of Commerce that says ´Thank you, thank you, but you´re bumming everybody out´ (chuckles) so (chuckles)(?)(chuckles) but, uh, I guess this is a, well, this is a song, you know, it´s, it´s, it´s about, about the men and the women who lived in this town and live in this town who built....who built this country, could I get a little more light up here, please ?....you know, who, who, uh, who really built the buildings that we live and the bridges that we cross, they gave their sons and their daughters to the, to the wars....the wars that we fought and who were later deemed expendable, expendable....so, uh, I´m gonna dedicate this song tonight to them, for them and the Marshall family and you.....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Youngstown´**

(the intro is missing from the source tape)
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Sinaloa Cowboys´**

(the intro is missing from the source tape)
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´The Line´**

´´This is, uh....(?)...this is, this is a song that´s (?) the lady was asking me about the kids and, uh, you get those kids and....and, uh, before you have ´em, your friends are always telling you about their kids and you gotta pretend that, you know, excitement....´I´m telling you that today (?) he took the piss for the first time´....´Oh my God !´ (?) anyway, but, you know, and then you get your own and, you know, you do the same stupid thing, you know, you can´t stop yourself, it´s unbelievable, you hear yourself and you go ´(?) doing ?´ (chuckles) and uh ....but kids are funny because, I guess, somebody said, you know, ´What´s it, what´s it feel like ?´ and the only thing I can compare it to is that kids....there´s.....they´re like these, they seem to have this window onto, onto, onto grace that is always open for them, it´s always open for children, they tap into it and in some way they bring it into the world, you know ....and I think when (?) when you become an adult, somehow that window shrinks and gets smaller and closes sometimes, which is why people go out to hear music or see films or read books in search of that, that, those small (?) that art can sometimes open that window a little bit, for kids, it seems like it´s open....all the time, uh, for ´em, and they bring it into your life and they give it to you....uh....this is a song about lost children, lost children, uh.....(?) kids down around San Diego border, 11, 12, 13 years old, who are running drugs across the border onto the San Diego Strip or selling themselves, uh, in this place called Balboa Park and, uh....it´s about what happens, I guess, when that, when that grace.....is violated, is violated....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Balboa Park´**

´´Thank you....I grew up....I grew up in a house where there wasn´t, wasn´t much culture.... matter of fact, I don´t remember hearing the word....(?) wasn´t a lot of discussion about books or films or, or, or, uh, you know, we were just trying to mainly get by (?)...it seemed like that was....all we had energy for....but uh....I used to joke, I say ´Even black and white movies were deemed suspicious´, you know (chuckles) and, uh, I had a buddy, who, when I was 26, it was pretty late, showed me, for the first time John Ford´s Grapes of Wrath....and I remember seeing the film, it´s, it´s worth seeking out, you can probably get it down at the, you know (?) it´s uh, uh.....you know, I guess there was something about that, that film, I saw it and it resonated throughout the entire rest of my life and....uh, I remember looking at it thinking ´Yeah, that....that´s what I wanna do, you know, that´s what I wanna do´....and at the end of the picture Tom Joad is, uh....has to leave his family, he´s, he´s killed a security guard who´s killed his friend....and he knows that the police are gonna be coming for him and he has to leave before morning....uh.....but before that there´s this beautiful dance scene at the very end of the picture and....his family, they´ve come so far and they´ve suffered through so much and at the end of this picture Ford shoots this beautiful dance scene that really, that holds out, it sort of holds out the possibility of beauty in a, in a world where, where brutality is, is compounded every day and in that possibility of beauty, where, you know, there´s beauty there´s hope (?) and divine love or whatever you may wanna call it.... so there´s this lovely scene, and then Tom steps inside his mother´s tent at the end of the night.... and he touches her very gently and he says ´Mama, I gotta go´....and she´s sleeping and she wakes up and they step outside under the trees and, and she says....you know, she´s lost so much and now she´s gonna have to lose her son....and she says ´Well, how will I know how you are, how will I know where you are, how will I know if you´re well, if you´re alive ?´ and he says ´Well, Ma, all I know is I gotta, I gotta go out and I gotta start, I gotta scratch around and see what´s wrong and see if there´s something....see if there´s something that I can do to make it right....and you´ll....you´ll know how I am ´cause at night when you´re sleeping....I´ll be in that darkness that´s, that´s all around you....and I´ll be in men´s voices when they´re yelling ´cause they´re angry....and I´ll be in the way that kids sound when they´re rushing in for supper and know that there´s food, food for them on the table.... and they know that they´re safe´....and he disappears into the night....the next scene is the Joads heading north for work....in the morning....to search for work....and the father says ´Ma, what are we gonna do ? Tommy´s gone now....and we´ve left so much behind....and it feels like we´ve lost so much´....and she says ´Well, we´re just gonna, we´re gonna keep on going´....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Across the Border´**

´´Alright, here´s a song about hope, faith, how it ain´t over till it´s over, sisterhood, brotherhood....community, friendship....every Western I ever saw, uh....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´This Hard Land´**

´´Thank you, uh.....this is a song, I guess I was finishing the....oh, first I´d like to say....I´ll say that later (chuckles)(?) uh, uh.....uh, this was a song, I was finishing the Tom Joad-record, this is the last song I wrote and.....at the time I was looking for, maybe in my own life as well for the record, you know, like you´re looking for some little bit of light, you know, some....but something that, that´s not a dream, something that´s, that´s not, uh....uh, uh, a fantasy, something that, something that´s hard, some real hard, real, true-life, it can happen-like and, uh....I wrote this song and I guess this is a song about....somebody who changes themselves at....in one particular moment....about how the battle between that will to live and the will for destruction....(?)....uh, in the mid, in the mid-80´s there was a, at the end of the Vietnam War a lot of the Vietnamese refugees settled in the Gulf Coast....and they brought their families because that reminded them of parts of Vietnam....uh, they went into the fishing industry and there was tremendous tension between the Vietnamese fishermen and the Texas fishermen....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´Galveston Bay´**

´´Thank you....(?) I just wanna thank you for being such a lovely, lovely audience, I´m so glad that I came here.....and uh....I say this is, uh, this is music that means a lot to me and, and to be able to do it like this, really it takes such a collaboration and that´s a gift that you have given me tonight and I wanna thank you for it.....before I move on, I got a....I got a nice, nice telegram, says, uh, ´Welcome to Youngstown´, it says, ´I wish I was there personally to welcome you but I´m sure the people are taking good care of you....the people of Youngstown are downhome, solid, earth type people, the kind you write about in your songs, I´m glad you get to see where I come from and a little bit of who I am, not much different from where you come from, I wish you continued success and godspeed´ and he´s right, it´s Ray Mancini who sent (?)....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´No Surrender´**

´´Alright....there I was.....sitting at my kitchen table....and I thought....´(?) a song that´s nothing but cliches....it´ll sell millions´.....´´
 * 12.01.96 Youngstown, OH, intro to ´My Best Was Never Good Enough´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//